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G20 Trade Talks Yield Little Progress 10/02 06:29
G20 trade ministers failed to reach an agreement Thursday to curb the
flooding of markets with overproduced, underpriced goods, a practice the Trump
administration says undercuts American manufacturers.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- G20 trade ministers failed to reach an agreement Thursday
to curb the flooding of markets with overproduced, underpriced goods, a
practice the Trump administration says undercuts American manufacturers.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, emerging from the gathering, said
talks were constructive despite not reaching consensus on the issue, which is
known as "excess capacity."
"Nearly all countries agreed that this is an issue that required action. And
nearly all countries agreed that our current system of trade remedies and
responses is inadequate to solve this problem," Greer said.
The White House has accused trading partners of producing a gamut of goods
in quantities surpassing demand, claiming it sends prices downward and unfairly
skews competition. The Trump administration views China as the leading
offender, but has opened investigations into countries from Norway to
Bangladesh.
Besides Chinese-made steel, the administration has claimed industries
including autos, batteries, paper and semiconductors have been plagued by
overproduction, causing the U.S. to lose ground to competitors.
The gathering in Milwaukee of representatives from the G20, which includes
both the biggest industrialized countries and some emerging markets, bore no
signs of a breakthrough on the biggest trade dispute of the moment, between the
U.S. and Canada.
Animosity between the two countries have been growing since the summer, when
President Donald Trump slapped 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of
Canadian imports, leading Canada to promptly counterpunch with tariffs of its
own. It further devolved this week, with Trump banning nearly $1 billion worth
of Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and
motorcycles.
"The reality is there are a handful of outstanding issues that are quite
difficult to resolve," Greer said Thursday.
Canada is a seemingly unlikely target of Trump's trade war. No country buys
more from the United States than its northern neighbor, an ally long considered
so close that the countries share an unprotected border.
Canadian trade minister Maninder Sidhu, pleaded for cooperation, saying:
"You're facing some of the same challenges that we're facing. Let's help each
other and let's work through something."
In other discussions at the meeting, trade leaders also failed to reach a
deal on forced labor, an issue the Trump administration has used as a
justification for double-digit tariffs on more than 60 countries. The breadth
of the levies, which cover 99% of U.S. imports, suggests another motivation:
replacing worldwide tariffs that Trump imposed last year only to see them
struck down by the Supreme Court in February.
"Believe it or not, we have countries in the G20 that do not want to commit
to having a prohibition on the import of goods made with forced labor," Greer
said. "At the end of the day, we all know forced labor is wrong, and it will
distort our markets, and we won't have it."
Sedensky reported from New York.
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